San
Joaquin County
Biographies
JAMES P. MURPHY
An
experienced, progressive and very successful rancher, fortunate in the aid of
his equally ambitious and enterprising sons, is James P. Murphy, well-known in
patriotic circles as a stand-pat Jeffersonian Democrat. He was born in Sonora, Tuolumne County, on
November 8, 1870, the son of John and Mary Margaret (Vizzard)
Murphy, both of whom were natives of Ireland.
Our subject was afforded the best common-school advantages, and in 1886
rounded out his studies, with honors, at Atlanta, in this county. The following year he took up ranching on the
homestead, not far away, cultivating a portion of his father’s ranch; and in
this initial venture he was very successful.
About 1904, he removed to another ranch, near Lodi, where he followed
grain-farming for about eleven years. He
painstakingly availed himself of the last word of science in modern
agricultural methods, studying conditions and prospects in the California field
in particular, and he used only the most up-to-date appliances, as a result of
which he not only advanced to the forefront, but he was able also to point the
way where others might follow.
At Modesto, Mr. Murphy was married
to Miss Helen Ida Johnson, the ceremony taking place on June 16, 1890, and the
lady being a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herman and Magdalena Johnson, pioneers in
San Joaquin County. Both of these
esteemed parents are now deceased; but a brother of Mrs. Murphy, Fred Johnson,
is still living, the popular chief deputy county clerk in San Joaquin
County. Nine children have blessed the
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy: William
J. resides with his wife and five children on a ranch near Vernalis; Thomas F.,
who is also married, is a merchant in San Francisco; James P. Murphy, Jr., saw
valiant service in the U. S. Army and is now chief business clerk of the Ford
Garage at Tracy, his popularity having been increased by his candidacy for the
office of city trustee in Tracy, on April 10, 1922; Edward P., a rancher, also
served in the U. S. Army; Cecilia Anne is the wife of Harold Strother, and resides at Gridley, Colusa County, and they
have on daughter; Mary M. is the wife of Fred Hilken,
of Tracy; Delia E. is a nurse at the St. Joseph Home, in Stockton; Miss Agnes
lives at home; and Joseph A. is still a student. In 1915 Mr. Murphy and his sons acquired the
William Mecklenberg rancho near Vernalis;
and there they have since very successfully engaged in grain farming.
Transcribed by V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
1400. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2012 V. Gerald Iaquinta.
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Biographies
Golden Nugget Library's San Joaquin County Genealogy
Databases